Another room set up against a corner to combat room problems, Bill Hutchins had a simple system that showcased his electronics design skills. Sometimes lost in the shuffle of great phono preamps, his LKV Veros One ($6500), is one of the best, and his rooms at shows are regularly in the top echelon for vinyl listening. Bill used a VPI Prime turntable ($,500) and Lyra Delos cartridge into his Veros One, then a LKV Line One preamp ($3500), into a conrad-johnson Premier Eleven tube amp driving Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers ($7700 per pair).

In a near field seat, the Pulsars vanished, a wide and deep stage opened up, and I was really engaged with the music. I heard a cut from Santana and the percussion details emerged without any edge but plenty of dynamics. On Alison Krauss the picking and singing was delivered in great fashion, true timbres, the low bass extension impressed me, a very natural presentation that came out of a very quiet, black backdrop. LKV also offers a less expensive phono preamp, the Phono 2SB ($3000) providing much of the
One's performance for less than half the cost.